While Turkey pursues a policy of constructive engagement in its neighborhood and beyond, full integration with the EU is and will remain the priority. Membership in the EU is Turkey’s strategic choice and this objective is one of the most important projects of the Republican era. With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, Europe will [...]
Turkey’s prime minister warned on Wednesday that his country’s relations with the European Union “will be completely frozen” if Cyprus assumes the bloc’s presidency before a deal reunifying the ethnically split island is reached. Cyprus has been split into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since 1974, when Turkey invaded after a [...]
Turkey will not recognize Cyprus’ presidency of the European Union in mid-2012 unless a deal reunifying the divided island is reached by then, Turkey’s foreign minister warned Wednesday. Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey-EU ties would reach a “freezing point” if Cyprus assumes the presidency before any settlement that would allow the Turkish community to be [...]
Turkey said Wednesday a progress report adopted by the European Parliament on Turkey-EU negotiations was one-sided, urging for objectiveness from the parliament on Turkey’s long-delayed EU bid. The report included views that are “one-sided, unacceptable and irrelevant to reality,” Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The European Parliament expressed concern at the “slow progress [...]
Turkey wants to be allowed to participate in EU summits and liberalized visa policy for its citizens, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bagis, said Thursday. “Turkey, like all other EU candidates, must be allowed to participate in EU summits, where it can share its opinions, expectations and ambitions,” the Minister declared. “Citizens of Belize, Uruguay [...]
Not just France but mainly EU understand how Turkey is important to EU specialy but never to late, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a firm opponent of Turkey’s accession to the European Union, meets with Turkish leaders today during a brief visit to Ankara. The talks are unlikely to touch on Turkey’s bid to join the [...]
